About

I am the Willis J. Smith Professor of Philosophy at Southern Virginia University.

I was born in Washington, D.C., raised in Utah and Hong Kong, then called on a two-year mission to Taipei for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where I taught the gospel in Mandarin Chinese to all who would hear. I then returned to my studies, completing a B.A. in philosophy, with minors in Chinese and ancient Greek, at Brigham Young University. My wife, Carol, and I then moved to Tucson where, with her support, I finished a Ph.D. in philosophy, with a minor in classics, at the University of Arizona, writing a dissertation under the direction of Professor Julia Annas on the moral and political philosophy of Plato's Laws. We then moved to Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Valley where we have lived with our children since 1998. I love Southern Virginia University and have devoted my professional life to its success as an LDS-oriented liberal arts college.